


all i want is to keep you safe.

by LLReid



Series: kamilah’s forever. [7]
Category: Bloodbound (Visual Novels)
Genre: Annie’s POV, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Canon LGBTQ Character, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Female Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Mental Health Issues, Parenthood, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Same-Sex Marriage, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:02:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29889813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LLReid/pseuds/LLReid
Summary: Inspired by; May I by Trading Yesterday.~~~~“I sent a text message to our daughter, asking for her location as she and Jax had not followed our agreement that they would check in every hour whilst hanging out with friends... and she replied by sending me a message that said ‘Five Guys’ followed by the horny purple devil emoji and the hand throwing the peace sign!”“Kami—““Our children are fourteen years old and apparently hanging out with five guys and sending the emoji you use when you wish to be eaten out! And they both seem to be finding my concern rather amusing! I asked for the names of these ‘guys’ and I received a list of their favourite Harry Potter characters instead! This is an outrage!,” Kamilah continued ranting. “I have deployed the whole of Clan Sayeed to retrieve them with orders to bring me whichever five guys they happen to be with so that I can—““Babe—““I was under the impression they were supposed to be hanging out with Zahra’s friends from figure skating in Battery Park. However, the implication of the text message is that whichever guys they are with are older— you have to get ready and we have to search for them at once— Heads are going to roll!”
Relationships: Kamilah Sayeed/Anastasia Sayeed, Kamilah Sayeed/Main Character (Bloodbound)
Series: kamilah’s forever. [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2108751
Comments: 20
Kudos: 17





	all i want is to keep you safe.

“Annie!”

Anastasia practically jumped out of her skin as Kamilah burst into the bathroom like a bat straight out of hell, frazzled and looking like she was on the verge of stabbing someone in the eyes. She was well used to her wife’s flare for dramatics. However, even by Kamilah’s standards, this was quite a way to arrive home after work.

Kamilah didn’t truly get this worked up about too many things. Yes, she had a temper and was very prone to whipping out the daggers when she was pissed off. But the woman was a study in being stoic and intimidating. But right now she was so far beyond the point of ‘stabby’ that she looked as determined as an angry pit bull clamped down on a man’s leg, as if she was blinded by the fury as it built within her. It raged like an out-of-control storm.

Thanks to their children, she was already well aware what was going on. 

“Kami,” she breathed from the bathtub filled with soothing lavender bubbles and warm frothy water, where she was nursing quite a terrible stress induced migraine. “Calm—“

“I sent a text message to our daughter, asking for her location as she and Jax had not followed our agreement that they would check in every hour whilst hanging out with friends... and she replied by sending me a message that said ‘Five Guys’ followed by the horny purple devil emoji and the hand throwing the peace sign!”

“Kami—“

“Our children are fourteen years old and apparently hanging out with five guys and sending the emoji you use when you wish to be eaten out! And they both seem to be finding my concern rather amusing! I asked for the names of these ‘guys’ and I received a list of their favourite Harry Potter characters instead! This is an outrage!,” Kamilah continued ranting. “I have deployed the whole of Clan Sayeed to retrieve them with orders to bring me whichever five guys they happen to be with so that I can—“

“Babe—“

“I was under the impression they were supposed to be hanging out with Zahra’s friends from figure skating in Battery Park. However, the implication of the text message is that whichever guys they are with are older— you have to get ready and we have to search for them at once— Heads are going to roll!”

“Kamilah,” she deadpanned, knowing that her full-naming her was the quickest way to shut her up. The ancient vampire stopped her rambling and frantic pacing at the sound of the name she rarely used, she looked up from her phone and then started scowling at her apparent lack of concern.

For a long moment Kamilah simply stared at her. She wasn't afraid of her in the slightest when she was in one of these moods, and she knew Kamilah liked that. She had said a thousand times that she didn't want a meek mouse, no matter that she wanted someone utterly submissive in the bedroom. There was a difference between submissive and spineless, after all, and she needed someone who didn’t cower when the darker parts of her were threatening to rise to the surface.

“Annie, this is not amusing in the slightest—“

“Five Guys is the name of a popular burger chain, sweetheart,” she said softly. “They’re not experimenting in some wild drug fuelled orgy with five grown men. They’re with Zahra’s skating friends and have met up with some friends from school too, they’re getting burgers and then hanging out a little longer before coming home to study— I’ve been trying to call you for the past twenty minutes because they texted me to say that you’re having some sort of breakdown.”

Kamilah’s jaw dropped but she quickly collected herself. “Are you absolutely certain?”

She held up her phone to show her the picture she’d received of the twins sat at a table piled high with fast food, followed by the message: ‘mama’s having a full on nervous breakdown bc she thinks we’re in some sort of gang bang with five dudes and auntie lily was telling us how to mess with her bc we were sending her screenshots but we think it’s made her mad and it’s not as funny as we thought it would be and now we feel kinda bad but we know she won’t chill even if we try to tell her we just got hungry. 911. send help.’

Kamilah heaved a sigh and quickly raised her own cellphone to her ear. “Abort the mission at once,” she grumbled below her breath, clearly thinking she was being most considerate whilst her underlings on the other end of the phone likely thought she was demented. “Yes, I’m sure! Did I stutter? Do not question my judgement, you impudent imbecile! I can and will strike you down as quickly as I raised you if you continue making my life a misery!”

She tried not to laugh as Kamilah continued her rampage on the phone. Really, she tried. But she loved seeing her in Clan Leader Mode, when she gave orders and she expected nothing less than utterly perfect results. And she didn’t know what it said about her that she found that particular trait so goddamn delicious. It made her all warm and shivery inside.

She took in a steadying breath as she stared at the unbelievably beautiful woman barking orders like a mad woman down the phone. Yes, she was gorgeous. She was confident, wore her arrogance and her confidence like a cloak, and God, she loved that arrogant, self-assured woman, especially because she was a completely lovable dork around her. 

She needed her wife’s dominance, her unparalleled strength. Her control. She needed that structure. It centred her. It reminded her that she had a place in this world. With her. Wherever she was.

“Do I even want to know who that was?”

“Mathew,” she pouted, leaning against the counter. She rubbed at her chest in the spot right above her thundering heart in an effort to alleviate the discomfort and closed her dark eyes, trying to rid herself of the horrendous images the nonexistent threat had invoked. “I am not amused by this in the slightest.”

“Come here, sweetheart.” 

She opened up her arms and gestured for Kamilah to join her in the water, and her heavily armed teddy bear with fangs began getting undressed immediately. Other people might’ve thought she was as much bite as she was bark, but Anastasia knew better. Whilst she could and would certainly bite as ferociously as she could bark, with her and the kids she really was all bark and no bite. 

“What sort of mewling mortal names a burger chain Five Guys?,” she grumbled as she climbed in the water and sat down in the space between her legs, laying back so that she was laying against her chest. Her tightly wound muscles seemed to relax the moment she was wrapped in the circle of her arms. “It is nonsensical.”

She kissed her hair and gave her a tight squeeze, knowing that she was still quite anxious and hyped up on adrenaline. “Shhhh. Everything is fine. They’re perfectly safe.”

Kamilah swallowed thickly and nodded her head, the gesture so small and tight it was barely noticeable. “Teenagers. Bloody teenagers— it really is no wonder that I require a glass of wine with dinner in order to relax... and I think we should consider the notion of reemploying the bodyguards that used to guard them when they were young. I have underlings that would be perfectly adequate for the job, as they fear me too much to even think about the notion of failing me.”

“We can’t smother them, honey. It will only make them sneaky and angry... we’ve raised them right and they deserve the freedom that other kids have.”

“Other kids are not our kids— they’re two of the most famous children in the world by virtue of their bloodline and I have many enemies that would harm them. I couldn’t care less about what other children have, we must keep them safe.”

“They’re so well trained that they’ve managed to beat you in sparring matches multiple times and they’re both such good psychics that I’m the only one who can penetrate their minds these days— they’re far better protected and prepared for life than you think.” She kissed her temple. “You know better than to make these sort of decisions when you’re anxious, Kami. You’re not thinking about things clearly.”

Kamilah did her best to still the subtle tremors racking through her body, but she noticed them right away and gently caressed her cheek, turning her face into the crook of her neck. She hid her anxiety from the world so well that most people — including their children — hadn’t the slightest idea just how much it actually affected her... but Anastasia knew that even the thought of something bad happening to her or the kids could easily panic her to the point people were very likely to wind up losing their heads.

She had lost so many people in her life and suffered more than anyone would ever deem fair. So she understood why she was so protective and that there were absolutely no lengths she wouldn’t go to in order to see the three of them safe. To keep them with her.

She was such a wonderful mother and wife, and she and the kids loved her dearly. Even when she was being a little bit over the top in regards to their safety. They all understood her and knew that her heart was always in the right place, even when her actions could be easily misconstrued as being overly-controlling by people who didn’t know her as well as they did. They knew she didn’t want to be an absentee parent or spouse. That she didn’t want to be like her father, who had thought being a provider was his only obligation to his children and his wife.

There was a hell of a lot more to being a family than providing all the material necessities, and Kamilah went to lengths to prove that she understood this. She wanted to be there for all the school musicals, the school band concerts, the figure skating competitions. She had been the one to put money under both kids pillows when they had lost a tooth and had pretended that it was the tooth fairy afterwards.

She wanted to be a mother. The best mother and wife that she could be to them.

“It’s alright,” she whispered again, never stilling the hand that had begun combing through the length of her hair. “Everybody is safe.”

Kamilah nuzzled her face against the side of her throat, matching her breathing as the trembling in her limbs gradually began to settle. Pulling her face down, she kissed her. Again and again, until she kissed her back with growing passion and until her body stopped shuddering entirely. There was a time for slaying dragons, and a time for holding on to someone and making the terror go away... and right now she really just needed a hug more than anything else.

She knew that the very fact she was allowed to see her in anything less than her usual regally imposing state spoke of just how much she trusted her. That this was their true intimacy, not sex, but the ability to be themselves entirely when they were together. Serafine and Adrian had seen the side of her anxiety that could easily be mistaken for anger, but in all the centuries that they’d known her, not even they had ever seen her in the especially vulnerable, raw moments that followed an anxiety attack of this magnitude.

In those moments, she tended to fall silent and overthink things. It was a different sort of silent than the air of social detachment and deep introversion she armoured herself in when she was with anyone outside of the family. Her silence now was a tangible thing that seemed to thicken the air around her. A thing that could only be healed with the right sort of physical affection and softly whispered reassurances that spoke louder than the intrusive thoughts assaulting her mind.

If there was anything that Anastasia knew she was good at, it was making sure that Kamilah knew with absolute certainty that she would never be expected to apologise to her for her feelings the way she’d had to with Gaius. It was at making sure her wife knew damn well she would never ask for something she couldn’t give. That in this life, she only wanted what she freely offered. That she only wanted her, even in her less than fully composed moments. With her, belonging to her. 

This was what they did. No matter the situation, they protected each other, cherished each other, honoured each other with their every breath, with their bodies, their souls and their hearts. They were tattooed on every part of each other’s body. Deeper, in their hearts, their very souls. A permanent brand that would never wear off, no matter what.

“Will you tell me about your day?,” Kamilah whispered after a long moment of comfortable silence between them. “You being with me... hearing you talk... it makes it stop. It's like when I’m training — when I plunge my blades into a dummy, everything stops. You are the same. Can you please make... everything ...stop? Take my mind off of things... please.”

She kissed her temple. “Well... I got bored and I started a new project that was inspired by what Zahra said the other night when we were watching Endgame— the thing about how cool it would be if Raines Corp actually made some of the weapons from the movie real. I may not have figured out the real life lightsabers they’ve been asking for since they were babies... but I may be onto something that I think you’ll like.”

Kamilah snorted. “Enlighten me.”

“So, you know Thor has this magical hammer that flies to wherever he is when he needs it,” she said with a soft laugh. “I’ve started brainstorming an idea where I would further refine our latest motion controlled drone technology and then program it into any number of weapons. So, theoretically, I could make you a dagger that you wouldn’t even need to be holding to stab someone with.” She paused. “Or an actual replica of Thor’s Mjölnir that I could, in theory, invent some sort of technology that would make it impossible for anyone without the motion controller to lift— its more of a self indulgent passion project at the moment as opposed to a real money making endeavour... but we’ll see how it goes.”

“So, theoretically, you could make my daggers fly with this technology and I could carry a few hundred into battle with me without ever actually having to touch them?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

Kamilah laughed softly and stroked her thighs beneath the water. “I like that idea very much. I could stab an endless amount of our enemies at once, perhaps even separate a few heads from shoulders with a flick of my wrist.”

She kissed her cheek. “I knew you would be into it.”

Instead of answering her, Kamilah turned in her arms and moved over her in a powerful rush. She took her mouth roughly, devouring her lips as her tongue plunged inside, tangling with hers.

Water splashed over the side of the bathtub as her body surged to life, arching up into hers. She wrapped her arms around her neck as she gathered her tightly against her. Their bodies were as tightly fused as their mouths.

“Thank you,” Kamilah murmured breathlessly, leaning back to look her in the face.

“What for?”

“Calming me down. Not being disgusted by my... uh... unnecessary meltdown. You always know what to say and every word you have ever uttered in those moments is engraved upon my heart... I still don’t know how you can love me when I’m going off like that—“

She drew her in so that her brow was pressed to hers. “How do you explain why the sun rises every morning? How do you explain the stars in the sky? How do you understand why no two snowflakes are alike? Some things just are, honey. And this is one of them. I can’t give you pretty, dressed-up answers that are so polished they don’t even sound sincere. I can only tell you that for me, it’s you. It’s always going to be you and nobody else. Fuck explaining it. I don’t need an explanation. I just need you, always.”

“Annie...” She said her nickname in that special tone that was reserved for her, so soft, so sweet. Part of her wanted to lick the word from her lips, sip the exhaled breath from her mouth— to possess her utterly. Right now. Right here.

“Kami,” she smirked.

Kamilah’s cheeks flared red and she tried to bury her face in her shoulder, but she placed a gentle palm under her chin and turned her face back to her. A happy sigh escaped from the back of the ancient vampire’s throat and she gave her another kiss. 

“You've given me something very precious indeed, Annie. Your trust. And I know what that cost you… your trust is the most priceless gift you could ever give a woman like me— especially when I’m so upset most people people with a brain would run for cover.”

“I know you’d never hurt me, no matter how angry or upset you are, love.” She couldn't move, couldn't think. She was utterly lost in those big dark eyes. “That thought never even enters my mind.”

Kamilah nodded and cupped her cheek in her hand. “Never. You’re the most precious thing in this world to me— I would sooner drive a stake through my own heart than harm a hair on your head without your consent.”

They shared a soft laugh at that. Then through a silent conversation that was all in the curves of their smiles and the arch of their eyebrows, they quickly reached the conclusion that they both wanted the same thing. Comfort. Connection.

They touched one another slowly, luxuriantly, and payed no mind to the warm water as it splashed over the side of the bathtub as their desperation grew. It was all whispered words of reassurance and soothing kisses, and the whole world melted away until it was only the two of them.

Yet despite the self indulgent pace, they both unraveled at light speed... over and over again. Their releases sharp, bewildering and beautiful, as they let each other know how much they liked what they were doing by scoring their backs with their nails and crying out with pleasure.

Kamilah’s hips were still convulsively moving against her body as she settled down over her, both of them too exhausted and spent to remember their own names. The ones they’d each playfully demanded the other say just moments ago.

She became aware of gentle caresses. Kamilah’s hands gently stroking over the scratch marks and half-moon shaped imprints now decorating her back. “I’m probably crushing you but I cannot bring myself to move.”

“Do you think you’re The Hulk or something?,” she teased as her left hand danced over the bumps of her spine, holding her on her lap, and she put her right hand on her chest directly over her pounding heart.

“According to Lily I am a slightly more intelligent and much less green version of the brute,” Kamilah pouted. Her head bent, her lips grazing her cheek all the way to her ear. With her warm breath sending tingles all over her, she continued in a whisper, “Because apparently my natural inclination to stab everything with a pulse is much the same as the beast’s desire to smash things.”

She laughed softly and nuzzled her cheek, not wanting her to move. She could still feel her inside her and felt safe with her over her. Completely covering her. She was hers. She was the very last thing she knew when she went to sleep at night and the first thing she saw in the mornings. And she went to work each day knowing she was hers and that she belonged, heart and soul, to her— and neither of them ever had cause to doubt it because not a day had gone by since she’d climbed out of that grave all those decades ago that they hadn’t been proving that to each other.

“Kamilah, Anastasia, the children are on their way to the elevator— and a word of warning, it appears they’ve been shopping,” the security man from the lobby of the Ahmanet Skyscraper said over the intercom system.

“I swear to god,” she mumbled as they climbed out of the bathtub, “if they’ve brought home another pet python or a tarantula I will lose my shit.”

Kamilah snorted, but visibly shuddered at the memory of the first time they’d allowed the kids to go shopping by themselves. “That was horrific but I still count convincing them the beasts died and returning them to the pet store the next day as one of the best ideas we’ve ever had— the fish, rabbits, hamsters, cats, and the bloody golden retriever that torments me is one thing... but a snake and a spider are just ridiculous.”

“I can, like, feel it crawling on me just thinking about it.”

“So can I— it’s sick and twisted, that’s what it is.”

They dried off as quickly as they could and finished throwing on their comfy clothes just as the elevator opened up and the sound of a pair of roller blades and a skateboard rolling on the polished wooden floors, high-pitched laughter, and the dog barking like the kids were coming home from war echoed through the apartment. 

“Mooooooms,” Zahra yelled. “We’re home!”

“We’re aware,” Kamilah replied as they walked down the stairs. “We could’ve heard you on the moon.”

Zahra was sat on the living room couch taking off her rollerblades whilst the dog fired himself at her in search of her full and undivided attention, whilst Jax was still stood on his skateboard unboxing something on top of the bar. A few H&M, Barnes & Noble, and Adidas bags were scattered along the couch, which didn’t set off any alarm bells. There didn’t seem to be any new additions to the family and everything you could buy from those stores seemed perfectly fine for two teenagers to spend their allowance money on.

“Are you quite alright, mama?,” Jax smirked over his shoulder. “Mathew and Tyler found us trying to make the Raines Corp skyscraper out of french fries and totally messed it up and freaked the fuck out when we wouldn’t leave with them until we were done eating—“

“Yeah, Tyler probably would’ve had a heart attack or something if he was a mortal,” Zahra snorted. “It was quite funny.”

“I am perfectly fine,” Kamilah huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “However, I ask that next time you just tell me that you’re well rather than indulging in your foolish Auntie Lily’s games! You are both fourteen years old and insinuating you are with five older guys will not ever be funny—“

“Mama is right guys,” she interjected before Kamilah could spiral again, giving her upper arm a soothing rub to centre her. “Wanting to make jokes is fine but you really have to read the room first— and remember that your jokes are only funny if the person you’re playing them on can laugh at them too. Leading mama to believe you were in an unsafe situation when she didn’t know what Five Guys was wasn’t nice.”

“We know,” Jax breathed, “and we’re sorry about it. We take full responsibility. That’s why we bought this cake with our own money, to say that we’ve learned our lesson and it won’t happen again.”

His words spoke to the very hearts of them both. Said with utter sincerity and understanding. She was thankful that neither of their children were particularly difficult teenagers, whilst they certainly had their moments they could and would always admit when they’d screwed up— and how simple they both always made it sound. Both Jax and Zahra had never really asked anything of them. They were both very undemanding and they didn’t give a shit about the family money or what they could buy with it they way wealthy kids often did. The only things they’d ever truly asked them for were so simple. Love them. Guide them. Be patient with them.

Zahra gave them both a light shove towards the bar with the proudest smile on her face. “It was my idea,” she said bashfully, “but Jax picked the colours.”

A heart shaped teal buttercream covered cake with the sides decorated with white piping and rainbow sprinkles sat on top of the bar. In the centre the words ‘we learned how to be assholes from you guys, thanks for tolerating us xo’ were piped in bright rainbow coloured icing with each letter in a different colour. 

“Ta-da! It’s a gay cake!,” Jax beamed. “We know someone is very picky about what cake she likes, so it’s just vanilla cake with vanilla filling and the buttercream is also vanilla flavoured. No chocolate or fruit or anything, and the rainbow sprinkles don’t have a flavour... they just make it look gayer.”

“Where on earth did you get this?,” Kamilah laughed.

“This random bakery in Chelsea,” Zahra smiled. “The mortals who worked there thought it was funny we were kinda calling you guys assholes as well as ourselves, so they took a picture of it and posted it online.”

“Well we love it,” she said as she drew the whole family into a hug. “Thank you very much.”

They all squeezed each other held on. Simply holding on to that tangible link between each other. A bond like no other. Irreplaceable. Unwavering. Old as time itself. There truly was nothing like the love that she and Kamilah had for their children. Unconditional. Solid. Indefinable and limitless. Capable of surviving anything. Able to triumph over the impossible.

“Yes, indeed,” Kamilah said as she kissed all three of them on the crown of the head, “but if you ever give me another heart attack like that, you will be grounded for the rest of your immortal lives.”

“If I ever was with five guys at once I really don’t think it’s the type of thing I’d just announce to my moms— that should’ve been your first indication that things were chill,” Jax snorted as he moved behind the bar to get some utensils to cut the cake with. “No matter how cool you guys are, Auntie Serafine would be my first call!”

Zahra started laughing hysterically and she and Kamilah all but choked.

“That’s gross,” their daughter concluded as she perched on a bar stool.

“I’m sorry,” Kamilah spluttered, “but what sort of stories has good old Auntie Serafine been sharing with you?”

“We get all the best gossip from Auntie Lily, mama,” Zahra smirked. “She tells us everything.”

“Everything?,” she squeaked.

Jax nodded whilst cutting the cake. “Everything— did you know Auntie Serafine and Uncle Adrian used to date?! We didn’t and we almost vomited because that is basically like incest!”

“They’re not related by blood,” Kamilah laughed.

“They may as well be!,” Zahra lamented. “And you can’t even talk because you used to date her too—“ she cut herself off with a dramatic vomiting sound effect that trailed off into a whole host of choking noises “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! SHE IS BASICALLY YOUR SISTER!”

“It was centuries ago and we were not as close as we are now!,” Kamilah grumbled whilst typing out a belligerent text to Lily. Her cheeks were bright red and she looked like she wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. “And it’s not like we ‘dated’ we just—“

“Kami,” she giggled, “do not finish that sentence, you dork.”

Kamilah looked up from the longwinded text message and started laughing at their children’s horrified faces. “That’s my revenge for that prank you pulled today.”

“This is child abuse!,” Zahra deadpanned as she began attacking her slice of cake with a fork. “It’s bad enough to think that you two—“ she shuddered “but to think that you and Auntie Serafine— that’s just all kinds of wrong and the sort of information that leads to teenage alcoholism, probably.”

“Heavens, not teenage alcoholism,” Kamilah monotoned on the verge of laughter as she began eating her slice of cake. She grinned at Zahra, knowing that would probably disgruntle her all the more.

“You literally puked after Uncle Adrian let you try a sip of the mojito the staff made him when we were on his yacht,” Jax teased. “I think teenage alcoholism is the least of our worries where you’re concerned.”

Zahra scowled. “Shit was like battery acid— but you can’t even deny the thought of them dating is gross as hell.”

“Yeah,” Jax nodded, glancing at Kamilah. “I’m just thankful you’ve never dated Uncle Adrian because that—“

“That would be worse than incest,” Kamilah finished for him.

“We also heard you dated that bitch that used to be on The Five before she was sentenced to death back in the day,” Zahra said. “In the... I think Auntie Lily said it was in the thirteenth century you dated her.”

She stabbed her piece of cake a bit harder than she intended to and Kamilah snorted. “Are you quite alright, darling? Has the cake offended you in some way?”

“I still hate Aiko Nakamura with a burning passion and have no idea what you were thinking,” she pouted playfully whilst attacking the cake. “The bitch made Lily seem perfectly sane!”

Kamilah leaned in and pecked her lips to placate her. “Don’t even get me started on your horrific taste in women. How you feel about Aiko is how I feel about you with Samantha Dalton, and those horrendous fake nails of hers—“

“MAMA!,” Jax and Zahra screamed before dissolving into laughter.

“I’m merely talking about the fact this mortal had the audacity to waltz around the boardroom with sparkles on the tips of her nails— get your minds out of the gutter!,” Kamilah cringed. She was lying. The sparkles were the least of the problems with Sam’s fingernails. “We’ve raised a pair of perverts, Annie. Our children are perverts.”

She laughed around the mouthful of cake she was eating and Zahra’s attention turned to her. “Don’t even get me started on the people we’ve heard you dated before meeting mama,” she teased. “Apparently you also dated one of your teachers at Belvoire! Auntie Lily says everyone called her Professor Dreamy and that you were her TA!”

“In my defence I met her before she was my teacher,” she chuckled, smiling at the memory of Ina Kingsley. “She was really lovely.”

“Indeed and she did not have sparkly fingernails, you’ll be glad to know,” Kamilah muttered.

Jax snorted. “That makes it fine.”

“Just you both wait,” she laughed, “a few years from now we’re going to have the time of our lives roasting you about the people you’ve dated and we’ve pretended to like whilst bitching about behind your backs.”

“We’ll roast you right back,” Zahra beamed, “about a thousand things!”

“I think mama will legit hate everyone we ever bring home,” Jax laughed, “and you’re kind of a sucky actress so you better start working on that.”

Kamilah huffed in amusement. “What do you mean by that? My acting skills are first rate... I tolerate fools every time I leave the house and nobody ever realises how close I am to committing murder.”

“It’s pretty damn obvious that you hate everyone and mom has to stop you cutting bitches like 99% of the time you’re in public,” Zahra teased. “Which, I mean, I totally get. You are me the entire time I’m at school. I sit there and I hate everyone but, like, three people.”

“She’s not kidding,” Jax snorted. “She sits there with mama’s death glare on her face for six hours and threatens to stab people with pencils when they piss her off.”

“Yeah and people just shrug their shoulders because I’m a Sayeed and they feel a bad attitude runs in the family,” said Zahra in a tone of complete seriousness, smirking at Kamilah. “I learned how to be a raging bitch from you.”

“You both are pains in the ass, do you know that?” Kamilah laughed, shaking her head in bemusement. “If I were not so immensely fond of you, I would’ve thrown you off the roof years ago for this slander."

“Not merely 'fond,' but 'immensely fond’,” teased Jax as he reached across the bar and gave Zahra a high five. “We’ve peaked!”

“Damn right we have— and you guys have to be extra nice to us, we got you cake. Don’t be hangry bitches to the people who got you cake.”

They all started laughing around their forks. She and Kamilah locked eyes as they all continued to roast each other over their dessert and she could see how happy she was— nothing was off limits but this was how they expressed affection. It was a very particular kind of pleasure, of intimacy, these ridiculous roast battles.

When Kamilah was this happy, she sparkled. At home with her and the kids when she was most relaxed and more like herself than she was at any other time, her laughter and her humour were contagious things. 

For someone who had once claimed not to be made for peace, it certainly suited her. 

~ fin.


End file.
